Judith (유디트)

 

 

 

 

 

Rembrandt Harmensz. van Rijn 1606 – 1669

Judith at the banquet of Holofernes

oil on canvas (143 × 155 cm) — 1634

Museo del Prado, Madrid

Rembrandt Harmensz. van Rijn biography

 

This work is linked to Judith 12:13

그리하여 홀로페르네스 앞에서 물러 나온 바고아스는 유딧이 있는 곳으로 들어가 말하였다. “아름다운 처녀는 주저하지 말고 내 주인님께로 가서, 그분 앞에서 영광을 누리며 우리와 함께 즐겁게 술을 마시도록 하시오. 그러면서 오늘은 네부카드네자르 님의 왕궁에서 시중을 드는 아시리아 여자처럼 되시오.”

 

Judith has gained access to the camp of enemy warlord Holofernes. She made him believe that she was willing to defect. Her beauty may have helped her in convincing Holofernes. A few days later Holofernes invites her to a banquet.

Rembrandt here shows how she prepares herself for the feast. The book on the table is probably a Bible, as Judith was a very pious woman.

The servant in the background refers to events yet to happen. She is holding the bag in which Judith was to put Holofernes' head, later that night.

This painting was long thought to depict a different subject: Artemisia drinking her husband's ashes. But in 2009 the Prado used radiography to determine which parts had been retouched or painted over. That showed that Rembrandt was actually telling the story of Judith, and not Artemisia's.

Artemisia, or Artemis, was queen of Caria until 350 BC. Caria was a region in western Anatolia. Legend has it that out of affection for her late husband Mausolus, Artemisia had a drink every day with some of his ashes in it.

 

 

 

 

 

Gustav Klimt 1862 – 1918

Judith II (Salome)

oil on canvas (178 × 46 cm) — 1909

  Galleria d'Arte Moderna - Cà Pesaro, Venice

 

This work is linked to Judith 13:9

9. 그러고 나서 그의 몸뚱이를 침상에서 굴려 버리고, 닫집을 기둥에서 뽑아 내렸다. 잠시 뒤에 유딧은 밖으로 나가 홀로헤르메스의 머리를 자기 시녀에게 넘겼다.

 

For this version of Judith Klimt used a different style than in his 1901 Judith. This work tends to cubism, with all the colorful layers. But natural perspective is still present, contrary to cubist works.

Judith's glare is colder than in the 1901 version. But her overall posture still shows the satisfaction Klimt thinks she got from decapitating Holofernes.

The work is also known as Salome, after the stepdaughter who demanded and got the head of John the Baptist.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Gustav Klimt 1862 – 1918

Judith I

oil on canvas (84 × 42 cm) — 1901

  Österreichische Galerie Belvedere, Vienna

 

This work is linked to Judith 13:9

9. 그러고 나서 그의 몸뚱이를 침상에서 굴려 버리고, 닫집을 기둥에서 뽑아 내렸다. 잠시 뒤에 유딧은 밖으로 나가 홀로헤르메스의 머리를 자기 시녀에게 넘겼다.

 

Please scroll down to read more information about this work.

 

Dressed in a beautiful gown the widow Judith succeeds in seducing the enemy warlord Holofernes. In his tent she decapitates him.

Klimt emphasized the erotic tension of the moment. His Judith seems to be in ecstasy: eyes half closed, open mouth, her dress in disarray. She is a femme fatale: a dominant woman who uses her beauty in order to humiliate a man.

The artist was obviously fascinated by the subject of Death and Sexuality, or Eros and Thanatos. Many contemporaries, such as Sigmund Freud, shared his interest.

The work is somewhat like a Byzantine icon, with lavish use of gold leaf in the background and on the Jugendstil frame. The frame was made by Gustav's brother Georg.

This is the Vienna version. There is an almost identical version in the Galerie Vytvarneho Umeni, Ostrava, Czech Republic, where the dress is more blue. Eight years on Klimt would make another Judith.

 

 

 

 

 

Lucas Cranach the Elder 1472 – 1553

Judith Dining with Holofernes

oil on panel (98 × 72 cm) — 1531

Schloss Friedenstein, Gotha

Lucas Cranach the Elder biography

 

This work is linked to Judith 12:17

17. 홀로페르네스가 유딧에게, "자, 술을 마시며 우리와 함께 즐겨라." 하고 말하자,

 

Judith dines with the enemy warlord Holofernes. He is impressed by her beauty and feels a strong desire for her. He drinks too much wine, so that later in his tent he promptly falls asleep. In the museum in Gotha is another panel of similar size where Cranach depicted what happened in the tent.

Cranach set the scene in a German landscape, with the city of Wittenberg in the background.

 

 

 

 

 

Botticelli (Sandro Filipepi) ca. 1445 – 1510

Judith Returns to Bethulia

oil on panel (31 × 24 cm) — c. 1472

  Galleria degli Uffizi, Florence

Botticelli (Sandro Filipepi) biography

 

This work is linked to Judith 13:10

10. 여종은 그것을 자기의 음식 자루에 집어넣었다.

 

Still holding the sword she used for the decaptivation, Judith returns to her home town. Her maid carries poor Holofernes's head.

The subject of the strong widow who saves her city was popular among Florentine artists and their patrons.

 

 

 

 

Botticelli (Sandro Filipepi) ca. 1445 – 1510

Holofernes Found Dead

tempera on panel (31 × 25 cm) — ca. 1472

  Galleria degli Uffizi, Florence

Botticelli (Sandro Filipepi) biography

 

This work is linked to Judith 14:15

15. 아무도 듣는 것 같지 않아 휘장을 열고 침실로 들어가 보니, 홀로페르네스는 머리가 없는 시체로 침대 발판에 너부러져 있었다.

 

After Judith shows the head of Holophernes from the city walls of Bethulia to the besieging Assyrians, the commander-in-chief's lifeless body is discovered in his tent. In the resulting chaos, the Bethulians have no problem driving off the Assyrians.